Lock for handbag clasp



y 1968 M. HOFFMANN 3,394,959

LOCK FOR HANDBAG CLASP Filed April 18, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ERITE HOFFMANN ATTORNEYS July 30, 1968 M. HOFFMANN I LOCK FOR HANDBAG CLASP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 18, 1966 FIG. /2

INVENTOR. MARGUERITE HOFFMANN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,394,959 LOCK FOR HANDBAG CLASP Marguerite Hofimann, 39-06 114th St., Flushing Meadows, N.Y. 11368 Filed Apr. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 543,359 Claims. (Cl. 292288) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An anti-theft device for a handbag adapted to envelop the handbag closure and be latched in a gripping position to prevent theft of the contents of the handbag. A cylindrical element comprises relatively movable parts having closure engaging surfaces which can be moved to grip or release the handbag closure.

This invention relates generally to a lock for a closure and more particularly to a lock for the types of closures commonly found on ladies handbags whereby the hand bag may be easily locked and unlocked by the attachment and. removal of the simple accessory lock of the instant invention.

Standard ladies handbags, purses and similar types of luggage items are generally provided with one of several known types of closures including snap and twist closures and zippers. These closures are generally designed to hold the bag or similar article in the closed position and it may be readily opened for access to the interior of the bag. Unfortunately, the ease with which the bag may be opened has simplified the task of pickpockets and thieves, especially in crowded department stores. Thus, a thief can quickly open a handbag and remove the shoppers contents while the shopper is engrossed in evaluating the merchandise offered for sale. Furthermore, especially with respect to snap type closures, the handbag may easily, accidentally be jarred open thereby inviting the theft of the contents.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a lock which may be readily engaged with standard commercially available handbags for securing the handbag against theft of the contents.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lock of the type described which may be quickly opened by the shopper to provide ready access to the interior of the bag without undue inconvenience.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lock of the type described which may be readily ornamented in order to provide an attractive, jewelry-like appearance when attached to a hand-bag.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a lock has a pair of gripping members adapted to engage and prevent operation of a handbag closure. The gripping members are suitably held in the gripping position with means being provided for authorized removal of the gripping members.

For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a handbag having a ice lock constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the instant invention secured to the closure thereof;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view, at a greatly enlarged scale, of the lock and closure assembly of FIG. 1, taken.

along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective exploded view of another embodiment of a lock attached to a handbag closure of different construction;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view, at an enlarged scale, taken along line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a viewsimilar to FIG. 2. but showing a lock securing a handbag closure of different construction;

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of still another form of lock adapted for securing a zipper closure;

FIG. 11 is a partial sectional view, at an enlarged scale. taken along line 1111 of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a partial plan view looking in the direction of arrows 1212 of FIG. 11.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 4, a handbag 21 having the usual frame 22 and a carrying strap 23 is shown as having a lock constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the instant invention, the lock being generally indicated at 24. The handbag is provided with a known type of closure including a post 25 and a ball 26 attached to one of frame members 22 and a latch member 27 hinged to the other frame through a hinging mem ber 28 whereby the latch member snaps over and engages with the post and ball to releasably hold the handbag in the closed position. Hinging member 28 also acts to spring bias the latch member to the latching position. The aforesaid closure arrangement is in common usage for handbags and is well known in the prior art.

Lock 24 is adapted to overfit and cooperate with the closure to lock the handbag in the closed position and prevent access to the closure which may otherwise be readily released. The lock 24 completely envelops the closure and includes a first gripping element 31 and a second gripping element 32. Each gripping element has arcuate side walls which cover the closure and end walls 33 whereby the side walls and end walls form a complete encasement for the closure.

The gripping elements are adapted to be selectively locked or secured in a closed position by a simple latching arrangement. The gripping elements are hinged along the top edges by means of two hinging arrangements including spaced lugs 34 on one of the gripping elements and a single lug 35 on the other gripping element received between the spaced lugs with a pivot pin 36 extending through the lugs in order to provide for relative pivotal movement. As best shown in FIG. 4, a spring 37 surrounds pin 36 and engages the gripping elements to bias the gripping elements to the open position.

The simplified latching arrangement is best seen in connection wtih FIGS. 2 and 3. An arm 41 is secured to the inner surface of gripping element 31 and extends toward the hinge line in spaced relation with the gripping element. A latch bar 42 is pivoted to the interior of gripping element 32 by means of a grommet 43 with the latch bar adapted to rotate with the grommet and be received in the space defined by arm 41. The grommet and latch bar are suitably apertured to receive a key 44 having a shoulder 45 thereon. The outer surface of the grommet is provided with a slot 46 adapted to receive and engage with the shoulder 45 of the key whereby rotation of the grommet may be readily accomplished by insertion of the key through the grommet and cooperation of shoulder 45 with slot 46. As heretofore stated, rotation of the grommet effects rotation of the latch bar and thus latching of the gripping elements in the closed position as shown in FIG. 2 may be easily accomplished. In the FIG. 2 position, the handbag may not be opened until the gripping elements have been removed. The handbag owner can easily remove the gripping elements by inserting the key and rotating the latch bar to a non-latching position whereupon the gripping elements will spring open for ready removal of the entire locking mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 2, gripping element 32 engages under the known type of latch member 27 while gripping element 31 engages with post 25. Gripping element 31 is preferably provided with a slot 38 which overfits with and receives post 25 to provide a lock for the closure of maximum security.

It is contemplated that a lock of the instant invention will be decorated with rhinestones or other items of costume jewelry in order to impart an attractive appearance. The locking mechanism will therefore enhance the appearance of the handbag while safeguarding the contents from theft.

Another form of locking arrangement for a standard handbag closure is shown in FIGS. through 7. The handbag body 51 is closed by means of a flap 52. A closure base 53 is secured to body 51. and extends through an aperture 54 in the flap. A disc 55 is rotatably mounted on base 53 and is adapted to freely pass through aperture 54 when rotated parallel with the aperture and to prevent opening of the flap when rotated perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aperture. Such closures are well known in the handbag art.

The lock of this embodiment differs from the lock previously described primarily with respect to its configuration. Thus, gripping members 56 and 57 are pivoted to one another by means of suitable hinges 58 with a latching mechanism as described in connection with FIG. 2 provided for holding the gripping members in the latched position. Each gripping member is provided with a slot 59 for engagement with and under disc 55 in order to prevent unauthorized removal of the gripping members from the disc when the gripping members are locked in the closed position.

With the gripping members in place, rotation of disc 55 will not be impeded. However, aperture 54 is generally of sufficient length and width to just pass disc 55 and thus opening of the flap would not be possible while the gripping members are in place.

Another type of standard handbag closure is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. This closure may be termed the snap ball closure wherein bag frames 61 each have extending upwardly therefrom a curved post 62 terminating in a ball 63. The balls are arranged to deflect and engage behind one another when the handbag is closed as best shown in FIG. 9 and the locking mechanism of FIG. 2 may be used for securing the handbag in the closed position. As heretofore described, gripping member 31 in cludes a slot 38 which preferably receives one of posts 62. It is also desirable that gripping member 32 be provided wtih a slot 39 for receiving the other post 62. In this manner, lateral displacement of the locking mechanism with respect to the closure is not possible and opening of the bag may only be accomplished after the gripping members have been unlatched and removed. Since the additional slot 39 does not in any way interfere with utilization of the gripping members in the FIG. 2 and FIG. 8 environments, the two standard handbag closures depicted in these figures may accommodate the single disclosed locking mechanism.

Another handbag closure is shown in FIGS. 10 through 12. In this embodiment, handbag 71 is closed by means of a zipper 72 which has the usual slider 73 and tapes 74 and 75. Gripping members 76 and 77 are pivoted and latched as heretofore described. The leading closing edges of the gripping members are serrated or provided with a plurality of teeth 78 adapted to engage and grip the zipper tapes. Since the tapes generally have a degree of flexibility, the gripping members will be set and latched in place over the slider to prevent access to the slider. The tapes will be gripped by the serrated edges or teeth 78 and secured thereon as a result of the engagement shown in FIG. 11. Due to teeth 78, lateral movement of the gripping members will not be possible while the gripping members are closed on one another and, of course, the gripping members may not be removed until unlocked. By preventing access to the slider, unauthorized opening of the zipper is prevented.

By the foregoing description, various standard handbag closures have been described and preferred locking mechanisms have been disclosed in connection with such closures. The invention contemplates that the overall sizes of the locking mechanisms will be in proportion to the various handbag closures so that an attractive locking mechanism will result. The locking mechanisms need not be excessively strong or have sophisticated latching arrangements since it is merely necessary to prevent opening of a handbag by a sneak thief while the shopper is carrying the handbag. Conversely, if a more secure device is required, the embodiments of the instant invention can be easily modified to incorporate locking or latching mechanisms of greater sophistication.

While the gripping members are disclosed as being spring biased to the open position, the invention contemplates a reversal of the spring to bias the gripping members to the closed position.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. An anti-theft device for a handbag comprising generally cylindrical means having closed ends, said generally cylindrical means adapted to substantially envelop a handbag closure, said generally cylindrical means having a longitudinal axis, said generally cylindrical means including at least two parts relatively movable with respect to one another, one of said parts having a closure engaging surface whose longitudinal extent is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis, another of said parts having a closure engaging surface Whose longitudinal extent is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis, said closure engaging usrfaces being movable toward and from one another to respectively grip and release said handbag closure, said parts including means mounting one for relative movement with respect to the other, and latch means for securing said two parts in a handbag closure gripping position.

2. An anti-theft device for a handbag as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said closure engaging surfaces includes means for receiving therein a portion of said closure.

3. An anti-theft device for a handbag as claimed in claim 1 wherein said two parts comprise closed end semicylinders and said mounting means includes hinge means connecting together said semi-cylinders along an axis parallel to said longitudinal axis.

4. An anti-theft device for a handbag as claimed in claim 1 wherein said closure engaging surfaces are serrated.

-5. An anti-theft device for a handbag as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said closure engaging surfaces is provided with a slot whose longitudinal axis is perpendicular to said longitudinal axis of said generally cylindrical means,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Backus 7()211 Pretti 70-178 Gentle 70-232 De Forrest 70209 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

10 EDWARD J. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner, 

